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. No. 368,949; Patented Aug. 30, 1887.

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lNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

EDVIN C. HUNTER, OF GREEN CASTLE, MISSOURI, ASSIGN OR OF ONEHALF TO OSCAR F. HUNTER, OF SAME PLACE.

POST-DRIVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,949, dated August 30. 1887.

l Application filed June 15. 188,7. Serial No2-11,400. l(No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, EDWIN C. HUNTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Green Castle, in the county of Sullivan and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Post-Drivers, of which the following is a specification. v

-My invention relates to improvements in machines for driving fence-posts; and the obro ject of the invention is to provide a cheap and simple device which can be readily adjusted to the inclination of the ground, and by means of which the posts can be easily and quickly driven vertically into the ground. These objects I attain by the use of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l is a perspective view of the device in position on level ground. Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the device adj usted to work on the side of a hill. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing another method of adjusting the machine to work on a hillside. Fig. 4. is a cross-section of the standard. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the gri ppers, and Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the post-guide.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A designates the base of the machine composed of the side bars, a, and the cross-bars a at the ends of the same. One of the crossbars a has a cen` tral perforation, a2, passing vertically through it, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained, and the othercross-bar a has a standard, B, erected upon it, the said standard having a ilexible connection with the said cross-bar.

C designates the post-guide, which consists of a U-shaped wire pivoted at one end on the same cross-bar that the standard B is erected l upon,and projecting outward therefrom. The 4o free end ofthe post-guide is formed by a springarm which is adapted to bear against a stud, o, on the upper side of the crossbar a', as shown iu Fig 6, and thereby be held around the post.

The standard B is provided with a notch, D, on its rear side, through which a semicircular bar, E, passes. The ends of this bar are piv- -oted to the sides of the side bars, o, of the base A, and its upper edge is provided with a series 5o of notches, F, which are engaged by a sliding latch, G. This sliding latch consists of a dat bar having two or more longitudinal slots, H, and held to the standard by set-screws I, Vinserted through said slots into the standard.

J is a plate secured on the rear side of the 5 5 standard, over the bar E, to hold said bar in the notch in the rear side of the standard.

To the front side. of the standard I secure a guide-plate, K, the edges of which project beyond the sides ofthe standard,and are engaged 6o by the grooved flanges L of the weight M and by the bentover ends of the plate N, to which the grippers O are secured. These grippers comprise two jaws, P, having hookshaped ends which engage an arrow-head projection, p, on the upper side of the weight M. vThe jaws are pivoted together on a bolt, p', which also secures them to the plate N, and a link,

Q, is also secured upon this bolt to receive the end of the hoisting-rope R. The upper ends 7o of the jaws are bent away from each other and then inward, as shown, thereby presenting a convex surface to be operated on by the trip S, secured to the standard near the topof the same. This trip S consists of the two out- Wardly curved or turned deiiecting-plates s, secured to the opposite sides of the standard and projecting forwardv therefrom, and the cross-strip s', connecting and bracing the said dellecting-plates. The hoisting-rope R is se- So cured to the link Q, and passes upward over a pulley journaled in the upper end of the standard, and then downward to the drum R', which may be operated by means of any desired mechanism.

T designates a brace hinged to the rear side of the standard and provided at its free end with a series of openings, t, through one of which a pin, U, is passed into the opening a2 in the cross-bar a to secure the brace in its 9o proper position.

The manner of operating m y device to drive a post will be readily understood. The postguide is secured around the post, so as to hold the same in proper position, andthe weight M 95 is hoisted, as will loe readily understood. The v grippers by contacting with the trip S are automatically disengaged from theweight,wl1ich immediately descends upon the post, the momentum of the weight driving the post into roo the ground. The grippers are then lowered and engaged with the weight, the weight again raised,aud the former operation repeated until the post is driven into the ground the proper distance.

My machine is peculiarly adapted for use upon uneven or hilly ground, as the base of the machine can be set to keep the standard in an upright position--upright in two ways. One method is to vary the point of connection between the brace T and the base, thereby causing the standard and the bar E to swing backward, as will be readily understood. Another method is to swing the standard to one side or the other, causing the latch G to engage different ones of the notches F in the bar E. It will thus be seen that I have provided a machine which is simple in construction and operation, and which can be readily adjusted to the surface of the ground.

Having thus described my invent-ion, what claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The combination of the base, the standard erected thereon and having a exible connection therewith, the curved notched bar secured to the base,and the sliding latch mounted on the standard and engaging the notched bar, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the base, the standard erected thereon and having a iiexible connection therewith, the curved notched bar piv- EDVIN C. HUNTER.

lVitnesses:

W. L. TAYLOR, M. Hann. 

